


Playing with Fire

by NuclearPoweredStick



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-02-25
Packaged: 2019-10-17 21:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17568263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuclearPoweredStick/pseuds/NuclearPoweredStick
Summary: Tom returns to his room in Castle Lucitor one evening to find an unexpected visitor.





	1. New Flames

Tom had just finished his Underwordly duties for the day, and was ready to kick back and relax as he strode up to the door of his room in Castle Lucitor. Putting his key in the lock, he heard unusual sounds coming from inside. Pressing his ear up to the door, Tom was sure he heard voices in his room. Ones that didn't sound like the usual tortured screams of the damned. Wondering if the castle maids might be inside, and not wanting to startle them, he turned the key and knocked, opening the door slowly. "Hello?"

As he cracked the door open, he found an unrecognized but vaguely familiar figure sitting on his couch, leaned back and watching a movie. "Oh, hey Tom." Janna grabbed the nearby remote, pressing the mute button for the TV. "What are you doing here?"

"ME?" Tom took the remaining stairs down to his room in a single bound, landing near the couch and pointing a finger at the intruder. "What are YOU doing here!?"

Janna smiled, wagging a single finger at Tom. "I asked you first."

Under normal circumstances, Tom would have been beyond furious at finding an uninvited guest in his bedroom, but her sheer lack of chalantness left him mostly just confused. He could swear he recognized the girl from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place her. "It's... it's MY room."

"Yeah, it's pretty sweet. Love the decor." Janna looked around the room, gesturing toward furniture covered in spikes, torture racks, and molten lava flowing from the mouths of monstrous skulls. "Plus I found this little guy!" Janna lifted the blanket next to her on the couch.

Tom gasped as he saw his pet bunny poke his head out from under the cover. "AHHHHHH! Marshmallow!" Tom formed a fireball in his hand, ready to fight for his pet's life. "Don't you lay a FINGER on him!"

Janna looked offended at the mere suggestion as Marshmallow crawled out from underneath the blanket, looking up at her. "Your frilly little pink bunny? No way! He's cool." Janna held out a fist to Marshmallow, who bumped it with his tiny paw.

Tom let the demonic fire fade from his grasp as he saw that the animal was in no danger. He squinted and stepped in for a closer look at Janna as gears started to turn in his head. "Wait a minute. I know you... You were at Star's Stump Day party." Tom snapped his fingers as the memory rose to the surface of his mind. "That's it! Janna! Marco warned me about you."

Some part of Tom's sentence got Janna's attention. "Yeah?" She rose from her seat, slowly approaching Tom. "He was right."

Tom couldn't believe his eyes, ears, or any of his other senses as she stepped closer to him. "Wha- how did you get in my room? How did you get past the castle guards? How did you even get to this DIMENSION?"

Janna leaned in close to Tom's face, forcing him to back up as she winked at him. "Trade secret."

Tom put his hands on Janna's shoulders and gently pushed her away. "Unless you want me to personally, LITERALLY throw you out of the castle, you better tell me what this is really about."

Janna backed up and returned to her seat on the couch next to Marshmallow, appearing confused by the question. "What do you mean? I was bored, and all the stuff Star told me about the Underworld sounded pretty metal, so I decided to come here."

"Here. My room." Janna gave an unenthusiastic shrug in response. Tom rubbed his temples, trying to make sense of the strange individual currently occupying his couch, until a thought struck him. "Hold on. Did Brian put you up to this?"

Janna raised an eyebrow, a look of confusion on her face. "Who?"

Tom finally had an idea of what Janna was up to. This had to be a test set up by his life coach. Brian said he'd been improving lately, so maybe this was something harder. Tom quickly resolved to keep himself calm. "This is an anger management thing, isn't it? He's probably watching us right now, just waiting to see if I snap." Tom's eyes began scanning the room, looking for anywhere Brian might be hiding.

Janna laid down and stretched out on the couch, stroking Marshmallow's fur gently as he laid next to her. "If you say so."

"Alright. I like a challenge." Tom took a calming breath, attempting to come up with solution to his Janna problem. For starters, he decided to try the direct approach. "Let's try this again. Janna? Will you leave my room?"

Janna gave Tom a wicked grin. "What's the magic word?"

Tom groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, but kept his cool, unwilling to let Janna get the best of him. "Oh for the love of... fine. Janna, will you PLEASE leave my room?"

Janna sucked air across her teeth, shaking her head. "Ooh... sorry. Didn't you get the memo? They changed the magic word last week. Now it's chickenbutt."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Tom could feel his skin beginning to smolder as his eyes went blank. He ran to the couch and grabbed his bunny, cradling the creature in his arms and beginning to pet his soft fur.

Janna could feel the heat from his body as he approached her, reaching out for the rabbit as Tom snatched it away. "Careful, you're gonna toast Marshmallow!"

Tom was briefly surprised by Janna's lack of fear for herself or her own safety, but the thought was quickly pushed out by his rage. He began pacing his bedroom with his pet curled up against him, circling and muttering to himself as he attempted to quell his emotions. "Go to your calm place... pet out the anger... think happy thoughts..."

Janna watched Tom's steps burn scorch marks up and down the floor, until his feet eventually stopped leaving tracks as his body cooled. "Geez, you weren't kidding about anger management. Dude, relax! Marco never set himself on fire when I broke into his house."

Broke into his house. He didn't know how she'd done it, but he knew she'd done it. Tom didn't even want to know how or why anymore, he just wanted her gone. He practically spat his words at her through clenched teeth. "Then why don't you go bother MARCO?"

Janna stopped cold as she heard the question. She scooted back against the arm of the couch and drew her legs up close to her body, wrapping her arms tight around them. "Marco's no fun anymore. Ever since he started dating Star they've been too busy trying suck each other's faces off." There was just a tinge of envy in her voice.

Tom's rage finally died down as he realized he might have some real ammunition again Janna. He was still going to throw her out, but getting in a parting shot couldn't hurt. After being on the ropes on his own turf, Tom decided he might actually enjoy being able to fight back. "Oh really?" He turned his head toward her with a smirk. "Jealous much?"

Tom thought he saw Janna flinch, but it was so slight that he wondered if it had been his imagination. "Pfft. Project much?"

The accusation seemed so ridiculous to Tom that he couldn't even bring himself to be mad about it. "HAH! You think I'M jealous of THEM? You really are nuts." As Tom regained control of himself, he felt the crisis was over and put Marshmallow back in his cage, then returned to stand at the opposite end of the couch to Janna.

Janna looked at Tom curiously, tilting her head. "You sure? The way I heard it, you and Marco had a pretty serious bromance going on."

"IT WASN'T A BROMANCE!" Tom felt his anger beginning to rise again. Perhaps he'd let Marshmallow go too soon. "I'M NOT JEALOUS BECAUSE OF MARCO! I'M JEALOUS BECAUSE OF-... because of..." As he thought about what he'd almost said, Tom's rage faded as fast as it had begun. He shook his head and balled his hands into tight fists, contorting his face in frustration as he turned away from Janna. "Ugh... nothing. Just forget it."

Tom's outburst provoked a look of genuine sympathy from Janna, who took her feet off the couch as she turned her body toward Tom, watching him with concern. "Woah. Are you okay?"

Tom was, to say the least, surprised by the reaction. Janna had seemed completely indifferent to his anger, possibly even enjoying it, but his sadness appeared to strike a chord. He sighed as he took a seat on the couch opposite to Janna. "Man, I don't even know." He leaned over in his seat and buried his head in his hands momentarily, rubbing his face before taking them away. Tom slumped back into the couch, not even looking at Janna. "It's just... I worked so hard trying to get Star to like me, and she still broke up with me. Twice. The guy she's dating now was already her best friend a week after they met. Come on! It's like, what do I have to do to impress her?"

"Psh, story of my-" Janna stopped short and cleared her throat for several seconds, almost sounding like she was choking. "I mean... whatever, I guess."

"Heh. Sorry. Guess I should save this for therapy." Tom ran his fingers through his hair nervously, wondering if it was really wise to tell Janna about, well, anything.

"Well... don't worry about it. Everybody needs to vent sometimes, right?" Janna looked around the room nervously, then gestured toward the muted TV. "Hey, uh, do you wanna watch the rest of this movie with me?"

Tom had almost forgotten that the TV was still on until Janna pointed it out. He HAD been planning to relax in his room, and it was starting to look like this was as close as he would get today. "Huh. I don't think I've seen this one before."

"It's actually not too bad." Janna raised a hand and pointed to the screen. "See the squid lady there? Turn's out she's actually the hero's mom."

"OH, SPOILER ALERT!" Tom threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

Janna snickered as she watched Tom's reaction. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! That one wasn't even real." To Tom's amazement, it seemed even Janna had SOME standards. "You did pick a really bad time to come in though. It's just about over."

"Gee, sorry about being late for a surprise movie screening in my own room." Tom rolled his eyes, putting up the recliner on his side of the couch. 

Janna flashed a smile as she grabbed the remote, unmuting the volume. "It's cool. Just don't let it happen again." 

Tom grumbled quietly, turning his attention toward the TV and trying to focus on the movie.

A few minutes into the viewing, Tom spoke up, trying to catch up with the story after coming in so late. "So, wait, I'm totally lost. Why does the squid lady have to leave this guy again?"

Janna muted the TV, scratching her head as she tried to think of the best way to explain the plot thread. "Well, like she said, people wouldn't understand. They're not even from the same world. They're just... too different." Her tone sounded almost sympathetic.

Tom shrugged dismissively, unconvinced by the reasoning. "So? Who cares what other people think? Who cares if you're different? If I liked a girl, I wouldn't let anything stop me."

Janna's finger rested on the mute toggle button, ready to resume the movie, but something held her back. After hesitating for a moment, she turned toward Tom, her voice unusually quiet. "... even her?"

Tom sighed and leaned the couch recliner as far back as it would go, staring up at the ceiling. "Huh. I used to think that wouldn't stop me. Like if you just try hard enough, they'll eventually fall for you."

Janna leaned back in her seat and watched the ceiling right along with him. "And yet here we are."

"Yeah." The movie was all but forgotten as they both gazed up at the ceiling, as though they would catch something moving if they watched it long enough. After nearly a full minute, it was Tom who finally broke the silence with a soft but drawn out sigh. "I don't know... maybe you just get to a point where it's time for something new."

Janna watched Tom out of the corner of her eye for a long moment as he leaned forward to view the TV. "Something new, huh?" She pulled a small spiral notebook and pen from her jacket and began to scribble something on it.

As Tom heard the paper rustle, he turned and leaned in to look, not quite able to see it from his present position. "What are you writing?"

Janna didn't even look up at Tom from the notebook, turning so the front of it was facing directly away from him. "Oh, this? I'm writing none of your dang business."

"Is that my evaluation for Brian?" Tom tried to find an angle where he could get a look at the paper, but it was no use. There was no way he could see anything from where he was. 

After a few more seconds of drawing on the pad of paper, Janna tore the piece away. She folded it and put the sheet, pad and pen back in her pockets before unmuting the TV. "Still don't know who that is."

"Fine. Be that way." Tom pulled away, leaning back in his seat and returning his attention to the movie.

After a few more minutes of watching, Tom made peace with the fact that he had come in too late to really follow the plot of the movie, and instead found himself lost in thought as the final scenes played. The more he considered his present situation, the stranger it seemed. Brian had asked him to do some unusual things as part of his therapy, but he'd never done anything without explaining it first. Even when he was forced to spend the day with Marco, Brian had given him fair warning and clear expectations. This just wasn't his style. As the credits began to roll, he wondered if Janna might actually be telling the truth. "Hey Janna. Brian, my life coach... he really didn't send you, did he?"

Janna's eyes stayed fixed on the screen as she responded. "Nope."

"You just decided to show up at my place. Even though we barely know each other." Tom still couldn't begin to understand how, or more importantly, why.

"Yep." Janna remained completely expressionless.

Although, Tom thought, if even half the stories Marco had told him were true... "Okay."

Janna stood up from the couch, stretching, and Tom stood up along with her, the pair facing each other. "I should probably get going though. Can't waste the whole day messing around here. I've got a life." As she brushed past Tom on the way to the bedroom door, she reached out and gave his butt a firm smack.

"Hey, watch it!" Tom's entire body jerked in shock as he turned toward Janna, blushing as he tried to process what had just happened.

Janna turned her head and gave Tom a sly grin as she headed toward the door. "See you around, hot stuff."

Tom blinked as he watched Janna leave. He wasn't sure whether to take her words as a goodbye or a threat. "You think so?"

As Janna reached the top of the stairs leading out of Tom's room, she twisted her body around toward him. "Oh, I think we'll be seeing each other again. That is... unless you're letting me keep this." Janna reached into the inner pocket of her jacket, producing a worn leather wallet covered in eldritch runes.

"What the- " Tom began frantically checking his clothes for his wallet. When he reached the back pocket where it should have been, he found only a small, folded piece of paper that he was sure hadn't been there before. As he began to pull it out to look at it, he heard his bedroom door slam. He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, yelling after her. "Janna! Get back here with my-" As he flung the door open, he was surprised to find that she had seemingly vanished into thin air. Even though he couldn't think of any way she could have made it out of sight on the long, straight staircase leading up to the rest of the castle, there was no sign of her.

As he wondered where Janna could have disappeared to so fast, Tom realized he was still holding the unread paper in his hand. He unfolded it slowly, not sure what to expect, but finding it covered with hand drawn skulls and pentagrams. His expression went blank as he looked over two lines written in careful lettering. "... huh." He stepped back into his room and closed the door behind him, walking over to his pet cage and addressing its fuzzy occupant. "Y'know Marshmallow, I think I still sort of want to kill her, and she's definitely a little crazy." A small smile started to form on Tom's face as he returned his attention to the paper. "But then again..."

 

626-555-1475  
Call me! - Janna

 

"... I like a challenge."


	2. Raising the Stakes

"Master Tom, as your life coach, I'm STRONGLY advising you to reconsider this." Brian stared with concern at the note with Janna's phone number scribbled on it.

"Brian, aren't you the one who always tried to get me to deal with the things that make me angry instead of avoiding them?" Tom reached down and pulled Marshmallow from his cage, setting him on the couch in his room.

"Yes, but... this is different. This girl is a button pusher. If what you said about her having other victims is right, she may even be a serial button pusher. People like Janna find buttons, and they push them. And let's be honest Master Tom, you have a LOT of buttons." Brian had dealt with Janna's type before. He knew that Tom taking the bait would only drive her to toy with him even more, even if really she was interested in him. ESPECIALLY if she really was interested. "So why are you so determined to expose your buttons to her?"

"Easy. She still has my wallet." Well, that was the reason Tom kept telling himself, anyway. The truth was, Tom felt like he had lost a fight where he should've had the home field advantage. It wasn't a feeling he enjoyed, and he was eager for a rematch. And besides that, though he hadn't admitted it even to Brian... he was curious to know more about the strange girl who had paid him a surprise visit the night before.

"Tom, look at me." Brian put his hands on Tom's shoulders, staring him straight in the eyes. "You can get a new wallet. You can get new money and new ID cards. But can you get new inner tranquility?"

"I mean, I'm rich, so... probably?" Brian opened his mouth to object, but Tom put his hands on Brian's and gently pulled them off his shoulders. "Brian, relax! She just caught me off guard before, that's all. It was a long day, and who the heck expects to find somebody just chilling out in their bedroom when they get home? This time though, I'm ready." Tom took a deep breath and closed his eyes, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "I have to do this."

"Then I can't stop you." Brian sighed softly as he handed back the note, turning toward the stairs leading out of Tom's room. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay here with you?

Tom shook his head at his life coach. The prince considered this one to be a private conversation. Besides, he really HAD prepared himself. He'd just enjoyed a relaxing lava bath with his favorite death metal playing, and with Marshmallow already waiting on the couch for him, he felt as calm and confident as he had in weeks. "Nah, I'll be fine. It's just a phone call."

"Alright. I'll be upstairs on standby if you need me." Brian hesitated and watched his client for a few more seconds, concerned, but eventually headed up the stairs to the exit of Tom's room. As he opened the door, he turned back one more time, frowning at the prince. "Good luck." With that, he left the room and closed the door behind him, worried for a patient who simply couldn't be made to understand what he was getting himself into.

Tom took a seat on the couch, Marshmallow instantly jumping into his lap. He held Janna's note from the previous day in one hand, and his phone in the other, smiling as he started to punch in the numbers. And yet with each digit, he felt his previous confidence slowly begin to drain out of him. "Okay. This is no big deal. It's just a phone call. Just calling a girl." He hit the cancel button, then began again, hesitating before entering a few of the numbers from the paper. "Simple, right? Done it tons of times." He continued to dial the number until he was halfway through, when he hit cancel again. "Never been a problem before..." He took a deep breath and dialed once more, only to stop after the last digit, just before hitting the call button. As he set the note on the couch next to him, he reached his now free hand down to stroke Marshmallow's fur. "Sooooo... what the heck is going on today?" Tom carefully set the phone beside him on the couch, staring at the nearly complete call.

Tom paused and sighed deeply, starting to have second thoughts about his plan. "Maybe Brian was right. Maybe I should just let this one go. Maybe..." Before Tom's feet could get any colder, Marshmallow hopped up from his lap and over to his phone, pressing up against the call button with his nose.

"MARSHMALLOW!" Tom stared in disbelief at the bunny, sliding his hands under his hind legs and lifting him up to eye level, holding the animal out in front of him as he heard the phone start to ring. "How could you betray me like this!?"

Marshmallow lifted up his front paws beside him, giving Tom a gesture he could only describe as a shrug.

The phone stopped suddenly part way through the third ring, and Tom faintly heard a young female voice coming from the phone as it sat on the couch next to him. "Hello?"

Tom scrambled for the phone, letting Marshmallow plop down in his lap, trying to regain his former cool. "Heyyyyyyyy, Janna! It's Tom."

"Tom? Tom who?" It almost sounded genuine, but Tom could detect just the faintest hint of something else underneath the question. Whether it was playful or malicious, he couldn't tell.

Either way, Tom knew she couldn't really have forgotten him so soon. "Tom Lucitor? Yesterday you somehow broke into my room in a fortified castle in the Mewni Underworld to sexually harass me and steal my wallet, then left me your number? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Tom waited through a short pause on the line. "Doesn't sound like me. You sure that wasn't some other Janna?"

The prince pulled the phone away from his face and swore under his breath, but otherwise held his temper in check before returning to the conversation. "... I was the guy with the pink bunny."

"Ohhhhh, right. Marshmallow!" Tom suddenly heard recognition in Janna's voice. "Is he there?"

"Huh?" Tom looked down to the rabbit in his lap, who seemed to be staring back up at the phone. "Oh, yeah, he's here with me."

"'sup Marshmallow?" Janna seemed to perk up as she called out to the bunny.

Marshmallow climbed up on Tom as best he could, chattering happily in the direction of Janna's voice coming from the phone.

"Aww, he needed help with it? That's adorable." Janna's tone was halfway between pity and condescension.

Tom looked skeptically down at Marshmallow, who squeaked back what sounded like a response to Janna. "Are you... are you having a conversation with my rabbit?"

"What? No, of course not. That would just be weird." Tom could swear he somehow heard Janna rolling her eyes at him through the phone. "Anyway, what did you call about?"

"Well, ah... funny you should ask." Tom figured getting straight to the point was probably his best chance of survival. "The thing is, you kiiiiiiiinda still have my wallet."

"Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that!" Janna laughed, as though Tom had reminded her of something funny. "I haven't even had a chance to go through it yet."

"YET?" Even though there was nothing especially secret or personal in his wallet, Tom wasn't fond of the idea of anybody looking inside it. "Look... nevermind. Let's just make this as quick and painless as possible for both of us. Can I have my wallet back... chickenbutt?"

"Well... since you said the magic word..." Tom could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He felt like Janna was drawing him deeper into a trap every time he opened his mouth. "What's it worth to ya?"

Tom's jaw dropped open in shock. He could hardly believe he was being extorted by a thief for his own wallet. He put on the most serious voice he could muster before responding. "Janna... I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have any money... because it was all in my wallet."

"Pfft, last time I stole Marco's wallet he had a cool 650." Tom heard a rustling on the other side of the line that might have been Janna flipping through paper, or bills. "You only have like 13 demonbucks or whatever in here."

Tom did a mental double take before realizing what was wrong with Janna's statement. "Wait, didn't you just say you hadn't looked in it?"

"So what are you doing this weekend?" Janna countered without missing a beat.

"Don't change the-" Tom stopped like he had been struck by lightning. He was sure he must've misheard. Janna had jumped tracks so fast he barely had time to process it, and there was no way she could really be asking what he thought she was asking. Or at least, not for the reason he thought. "I'm... I'm sorry?" 

Janna repeated herself slowly, as though speaking to a child. "You. Doing. This weekend. What are?"

Tom felt sure he had plans, even if he couldn't exactly think of any at the moment. "THIS weekend? Oh... you know. I'm pretty busy."

"Yeah? With what?" Janna's voice was tinged with something that sounded almost predatory. As he drew in a breath to speak, Janna cut him off immediately. "Rhetorical. You're playing paintball with me."

"So... this is really the conversation we're having right now?" Tom had played paintball a few times in his life and rather enjoyed it, even been reasonably good at it. Paintball with Janna though? He somehow suspected she was the type to mix in a few marbles. "You left me your number because you wanted to play paintball?"

"What, not exciting enough for you?" Every one of Tom's instincts told him that Janna was getting ready to pounce. "Why don't we make things a little more interesting?"

The way things were going, Tom was starting to regret not listening to Brian. He wondered if he might still be able to cut his losses and escape with what remained of his dignity. "Let me guess... we're playing for the wallet? I mean, I want it back, but come on. I'm pretty sure I can get another wallet."

Janna snorted at Tom derisively. "Please. We're making it WAY more interesting than that. If you win, which isn't gonna happen... I'll not only give you back your wallet, I'll leave you alone forever."

Tom was surprised to find that he had mixed feelings about Janna's offer. A small part of him did actually want to see her again, though under very different circumstances than she was proposing. Yet a much larger part was telling him that the whole thing was a ruse. Still, Tom figured it couldn't hurt to at least hear her out.. "Uh-huh. And if you win... you'll keep harassing me and you're keeping the wallet?"

"You can have it back either way. You're gonna need it after I win, because WHEN I do..." Just when Janna had stayed silent long enough that Tom was about to ask, she finished her thought. "You're going to take me on a date."

Tom pulled the phone away from his ear, staring down at the screen, completely dumbfounded. "What."

"You heard me. A date. A REAL date. We're gonna get you out of those ripped clothes..." Tom felt a blush rising as Janna let the statement hang in the air. "... and into some nice ones, and then you and I are going on a date. Maybe dinner and a movie?"

Despite being a powerful demon and prince of the Underworld, Tom had some concerns about going on a date with Janna. Concerns like waking up in a ditch with his internal organs missing, assuming he ever woke up at all. "No. No, nonononono, no. All those things you just said we're doing? We're not doing them. Challenge declined."

Janna gave Tom a disappointed sigh before responding. "Yeah, okay....I understand. It was worth a shot. And to be honest, I'm actually pretty impressed with how secure you are in your masculinity."

"Well, yeah, I- wait, what?" Tom hesitated, not sure if he liked, or even fully understood, what Janna was implying.

"I mean, I'm just sayin'. You of all people?" Janna's tone was condescendingly casual as she continued. "I really didn't think you'd be able to admit you're afraid of getting your butt kicked by a girl."

Tom had long since realized he was being baited, but still somehow he had a hard time letting Janna's barbs slide. Still, even if she was winning the battle by getting under his skin, he was determined not to lose the war. He took a deep breath and silently counted to five before replying. "Forget about it. I know better than to go with a predator to a second location. And honestly? I don't even think I want the wallet back."

Janna responded without hesitation. "What, you're finally switching to a purse?"

"THAT'S IT!" That was the last straw, and Tom felt himself lose control. Marshmallow jumped from his lap as the flames started to rise around him, his eyes going blank. "You wanna do this? You REALLY wanna do this? You want me to bring it? Because I'll bring it!"

"You think you can bring it, huh? You talk big, but I don't think you've even got it to bring, wuss." If Janna was intimidated at all by Tom's temper, her voice didn't indicate it in the slightest.

Tom was yelling almost loud enough to wake the dead now as he continued his tirade. "Oh! OH! I'm warning you sister, once it's brung, IT CAN'T BE UNBRUNG!"

"Then you and your A-game better be at the Echo Creek Paint-o-rama Saturday at 4. If you haven't grown a pair by then, don't bother showing up." With that, Tom heard a beep from his phone as Janna hung up on him.

Tom heard a knock at the door to his room, then Brian's voice from behind it. "Master Tom? Are you in there?"

The words snapped Tom out of his rage. He looked up at the door, taking deep breaths as his fire started to fade. "Yeah... yeah, I'm here. It's okay, you can come in."

Brian opened the door and slowly descended the stairs, watching Tom warily, not yet sure if he had fully calmed down. "I heard you yelling from all the way upstairs. What happened?"

The demon prince stared back at the phone, the words 'Call Ended' still flashing on the screen as the conversation replayed in his mind.

"... I have absolutely no idea."


	3. Love and War

The first encounter had taken place on his home turf, and he'd somehow managed to lose. The second skirmish had been with each of them in their own home, and he'd lost again. Now the spider had invited the fly into her parlor, and the fly had come willingly. Tom recognized exactly what was happening, yet he somehow felt powerless to do anything except push on. So it was that, against Brian's completely reasonable advice and his own better judgment, Tom found himself sitting in the locker room of the Echo Creek Paint-o-rama Paintball Field and Emporium, just as Janna had demanded.

Tom had already paid his entry fee and read over the safety rules. Well, skimmed them, at least. It was mostly basic information covering the proper use of safety gear, safe paintball gun handling, and other things that Tom took be to common sense. He wasn't really interested in the fine print. More interesting to him was the format of that day's game: An every man for himself, winner take all death match. According to the cashier, there had already been over 20 registrations, and there were still more players coming in. There had been mention of a small prize that the Paint-o-rama would award to the last survivor of game, but that was inconsequential to Tom. The real reason he'd decided to show up was... well, Tom actually wasn't quite sure if he hoped to accomplish anything beyond winning his bet, but he figured beating Janna at her own game and rubbing it in her face would be a good start.

As soon as he finished changing, Tom exited the men's locker room in the uniform he had rented from the paintball facility, with a bag full of gear in one hand, a helmet under his arm, and his paintball gun slung over his shoulder. To his surprise, the facility didn't allow personal equipment. He wasn't sure that was standard, but since he didn't actually have any paintball gear of his own, he figured it was just as well. The camouflage uniforms were more or less identical to each other aside from the size and a large player number attached to the front and back. Tom had ended up with a 24.

Tom had made sure to come a little early, figuring he didn't want to endure any taunting from Janna over showing up late. Not that he really thought it would save him from Janna taunting him over something else. But by the time he had gotten his uniform and paintball gun ready, it was getting close to game time, and he was starting to wonder where Janna was. Just as Tom was starting to think Janna actually had the nerve to stand him up, she emerged from the women's locker room, her rented uniform identical to his except for the number 21 on the front and back.

This time, Tom was sure he was prepared. Brian had objected to him coming at all, but he still agreed to help Tom get ready. Tom didn't really need Brian to tell him that Janna enjoyed getting a rise out of him, but when Tom asked Brian why he had been chosen as a target, the explanation had been... uncharacteristically vague. Tom still felt like he hadn't gotten a straight answer to that particular question.

What had been more helpful was Brian's advice in dealing with her taunting. Brian told him the best thing he could do restrain himself, and eventually, Janna would start to lose interest. Or at least, might. Having been in a gambling mood lately, Tom decided to try it, and had promised himself he wouldn't get mad today. Anything Janna threw at him, he'd just let it slide off. Tom was starting to get better at her game, and he figured if he had a clear goal in mind, he would be able to remain in control. He had to admit that Janna had won a few battles, but Tom was determined to win the war.

As she stepped into the lobby, Janna didn't even need to look for Tom. She spotted him immediately, almost like a sixth sense. She effortlessly weaved through the players who were milling about, waiting for the game to start, with a smug smile on her face as she greeted her victim. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to show up."

Just keep it cool, Tom thought to himself. "Uhhhhhhhhhhhh..." His eyes scanned the room, a sarcastic smile on his face as he decided to answer Janna's completely rhetorical question. "Me?"

"Lucky guess." Janna leaned in with a wicked grin, clearly in the mood for a fight. "So, you ready to lose?"

Tom, as he had promised himself, kept his temper under control. But he figured that didn't mean he had to just stand there and take it. "Y'know, I might be a little rusty, but I'm actually pretty good at this. You really think you can beat me?"

"Pfft. Like a red-headed stepchild. Which kinda fits, considering..." Janna reached a hand out to ruffle Tom's fiery red hair.

"Hey, HEY! Watch the 'do!" Tom had always felt quite protective of his chosen hairstyle, and he quickly reached up and ran his hands through his hair to fix it. "Do you have any idea how long it takes me to get it like this? Although..." Tom looked down at the helmet her carried under his arm. "I guess it was gonna get messed up from this thing anyway."

Janna shrugged, patting her own helmet as she held it up for display. "Yeah, they're super hardcore about safety here. Full coverage helmet with visor and mask, mandatory uniforms... the works. Totally worth it though, the course is to die for. So get dressed for your funeral, dead man."

Tom grumbled, but otherwise held himself back. He figured there was no getting out of the fight at this point. It wasn't as though he hadn't expected this going in.

As Tom tried to put his helmet on, he found that it bumped against his horns. When further attempts still proved futile, he pulled it off for a closer look. Janna watched with amusement at Tom's growing frustration. After brief consideration, Tom sparked a concentrated jet of demonic flame from the tip of his finger, carefully cutting a path through the material, carving out notches for his horns to fit under the helmet.

"You're gonna have to pay for that." Tom heard a bored sounding voice from entrance to the paintball course.

"Fine, fine. I'll get it on the way out, uhhhh..." Tom looked over and found a sloth fixing him with a look of unenthusiastic disapproval, seated in a folding chair near the entrance to the outdoor course, a PA microphone on the table next to him. His eyes were just barely lifted from a cell phone that he had obviously been playing with. Tom's eyes wandered down toward the name tag clipped to the sloth's shirt. "Reggie? Wait, that sounds familiar... do I know you from somewhere? Did you used to work at Quest Buy?"

Reggie rolled his eyes, letting out a contemptuous sigh. "Oh, so just because I'm a sloth, that means I MUST have had a job at Quest Buy. That's the ONLY place a sloth could ever possibly work. THAT, sir, is a HURTFUL stereotype!"

Janna elbowed Tom rather firmly in the ribs, giving him a dirty look. "Dude, not cool."

Tom cleared his throat nervously, really not having meant anything by it. He could've sworn he remembered meeting a sloth named Reggie in Quest Buy customer service once, but he couldn't be certain it was the same one. "Oh, uh... sorry. I- I didn't mean..."

"Ugh... whatever." Reggie shook his head, then returned his attention to his phone. "Just pay for the helmet before you leave. Oh, and technically ALL parts of your body have to be protected, so... do something about the horns."

Tom ran his hands along his horns, pretty sure that a paintball range on earth wouldn't have standard sized horn protectors in stock. "Huh? How am I supposed to do that?"

Janna leaned in, taking a closer look Tom's horns, until she suddenly snapped her fingers, face lighting up with inspiration. "Wait here." She swiftly vanished into the women's locker room, leaving Tom to wonder what she was planning.

A minute or so later, Tom jumped when he felt somebody behind him. He was sure it was Janna, but he hadn't seen her come back out of the locker room, and he'd been watching the entrance the entire time. "Janna? How the heck did you-"

"Shh! Hold still." Tom felt Janna slipping something over his horns, but they weren't a sensitive enough body part for him to be able to tell much more than that.

Tom reached up to feel what Janna had done, but she slapped his hand away. "Don't touch! They might come off." Janna waved to Reggie, shouting for his attention. "Yo, Reggie! We good here?"

Reggie glanced up from his phone and shrugged with a complete lack of interest. "Eh. Close enough." He leaned over to his microphone, pressing a button to broadcast over the PA system, the sound reaching across the entire Paint-o-rama facility. "Attention, all contestants. The game will begin in five minutes."

The announcement reminded Tom of something he'd been meaning to ask Janna, but he had been too distracted to mention it up until that point. "Hey, so it's a free for all today, right? What if neither of us make it through the whole thing?"

"What, worried about being first blood? Wouldn't surprise me..." Janna stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Tell you what. I play to win, but just in case something happens, whoever survives the longest takes the bet." Janna smiled wickedly, leaning in to poke Tom's chest. "Oh, and if I catch you using magic, not only will I count it as an automatic forfeit, I'll tell everybody about the little stuffed goat toy I found under your bed last week."

"You leave Miss Lucy Fur out of this!" As Tom thought about it, he wasn't exactly surprised just how much of his room Janna had snooped around, but he didn't think even she would sink that low. While he had relatively few secrets in his room, there was still certain information he didn't want getting out. Tom hadn't even planned to use magic in the first place. He had briefly considered it, but under the circumstances, he had felt it was important to beat Janna at her own game, even if magic wasn't technically against the rules.

"Don't cheat and it won't be a problem." Janna dragged the tip of her finger up and off Tom's chest, flicked his nose gently, and then slowly backed away to grab her gear bag. Janna pulled her beanie off, stowing it in the bag, smoothing out her hair so she could put on the helmet. As Tom watched, Janna gave him an odd, questioning look. "... what?"

It took Tom a moment to realize he had been staring. "Nothing. Just... I dunno. You look cute without the hat." The words left his mouth before he could stop them, but even before Janna could react, Tom knew he'd made a dire mistake.

Tom could swear he saw Janna's face go red as she quickly turned away from him. "Flattery..." Janna pulled her gun from her gear bag, then reached into her pocket. She pulled out a small, smooth and shiny metal ball, holding it between her fingers for Tom to see. He wasn't exactly sure what he was looking at, but as it vanished from his sight, presumably to join Janna's paintballs, he was sure it would be painful. "... will get you nowhere."

Tom's compliment had been somewhat off the cuff, but he'd meant it. He had to admit, he hadn't expected nearly that much of a reaction. Tom thought he might finally have a weapon of sorts against Janna, but given her swift and severe retaliation, he wondered if it was worth the cost. "H- hey! Reggie! REGGIE! Did you see just see that?" Tom shouted over toward Reggie, hoping he would at least be willing to enforce basic safety rules.

"See what?" Reggie didn't even take his eyes off his phone as he responded.

Tom waved his arms frantically in the air and pointed at Janna, who was now pretending that nothing had happened as she casually dusted off her helmet. "She just put a metal ball or something in her paintball gun!"

Reggie glanced up to Tom, then over to Janna, then right back to his phone. "No she didn't."

Tom's jaw dropped open. He was sure Reggie was letting Janna get away with it because of his earlier accidental insult, but that didn't exactly make it better. He still wondered if he could talk Janna out of it directly, if only for the sake of not ending up with an extra hole at some inconvenient location on his body. "Oh for the love of... so I'm not allowed to use magic, but you can use THAT?"

"Yep. What're you gonna do about it?" Janna leaned in close, taunting him with a wide, teasing smile.

Tom was slowly starting to develop some resistance to Janna's bait, but he still felt the need to fight back occasionally. If she wanted a war, he was going to give it to her. "Gonna kick your butt up one side of the arena and down the other."

"Ooh... demon boy's got some fire in him after all." Janna gave Tom a look that, if he didn't know better, he would have almost described as flirtatous. "Alright tough guy... let's see if you got any bite to go with that bark."

Janna popped her helmet on, and before Tom could respond, they both heard the creak of the doors opening out into the arena. There was a squeal over the PA system, followed by Reggie's bored voice coming over it. "The game will begin in one minute. Contestants, please enter the play area and spread out." Reggie let out a disinterested sigh. "Or... don't. I get paid the same either way."

Tom and Janna peered out of the lobby into a large outdoor area. Tom could see fencing in the distance, presumably the boundary of the arena. The course itself looked quite impressive to Tom, as Janna had said. It appeared to be some kind of simulated urban environment, full of tall concrete walls with windows for fire ports, shorter walls just tall enough to cover a crouching player, metal barrels, huge cable spools, occasional trees, and other various items to use for cover.

Both crossed the threshold of the door, Janna deciding to taunt Tom one last time as the game began. "Try not to get yourself killed before our date."

"Stop giving me ideas." Tom just rolled his eyes, then returned to surveying the field for a good starting position.

"I mean... you CAN. Just don't think it'll save you." Janna reached up to give Tom a quick and somehow condescending pat on the head, then split off, vanishing into the cover of the arena.

"That does not even surprise me." Tom muttered to himself as he rushed for a position that looked both vacant and relatively safe, trying to make himself scarce before the match started. He chose to take cover behind a low wall near the edge of the field, figuring it would give him enough protection and a good angle of fire without being too obvious of a hiding spot.

The PA system came to life again, Reggie's voice coming over with another announcement. "And... it seems we have a couple of last minute entries. How thrilling." Tom noticed Reggie didn't actually sound all that thrilled. "The game will begin in 30 seconds."

As the final countdown went out over the loudspeaker, Tom watched from his hiding spot as two new players slipped through the door, numbered 29 and 30. He noticed they didn't split up immediately, going for cover together. Tom found this slightly suspicious, but he figured they would probably separate soon enough.

Tom heard the sound of the starting buzzer from the loudspeakers all around him, and while staying as protected as possible, he began scanning the arena. A small part of him wanted to win the whole game, but despite his earlier bravado, he was now primarily interested in outlasting Janna. As much as we would've liked to strike the killing blow himself, he decided to play defensively and hope for her to get eliminated early by someone else. After all, a win was a win. The course was quite large, but there were a good number of players, and he noticed quite a bit of movement as the game began. He stayed low for the moment, watching overeager players quickly being eliminated by more canny tacticians. Despite playing it safe, he snuck in some opportunistic shots of his own. He figured he might be able to take out Janna early, though if he was being honest with himself, his luck hadn't been that good lately. After a few attempts, he did manage to get a clean shot on one of the many players in the free for all, removing them from the game.

After successfully landing a shot, Tom found he was now getting into the spirit of the game. He still tried to play it relatively safe, but even so, he managed to get in a few good shots and take out some of the other contestants, while staying concealed enough that no more than a few stray rounds came his way.

The paint was flying fast and thick, and players were falling quickly. After several casualty fillled minutes in the arena, the action was starting to slow down. The overly aggressive players had been weeded out, and now only the smart and careful ones were left. At that point, Tom decided it was time to go back on full defense unless he had no other choice. He stayed down as much as possible, not taking any shots that he wasn't absolutely sure were safe, now keeping a much sharper eye out for other players. Especially Janna. The culling of the herd continued, and before long, Tom heard another announcement over the PA from Reggie. "Attention all remaining players... we are now down to our final four contestants. I paid for the whole seat, and yet I find that I only need the edge."

Tom hadn't seen Janna all game, or at least he hadn't spotted a uniform with 21 on it. He figured it was possible that she had already been eliminated by someone else, but somehow he suspected not. Janna had said she would play to win, and Tom believed her. It was starting to look like he would have to do the job himself. Tom steeled himself and left his relatively safe hiding place, prowling the arena and looking for a new target.

Though he didn't find Janna, it didn't take him long to spot another unguarded player. Looking at the uniform number, Tom recognized Player 30 as being one of the late entries. He - or she, he wasn't positive at that distance, but Tom thought 30 was a he- was obviously out hunting, but hadn't spotted Tom yet. Tom decided he had a chance for a sneak attack. As long as it was a safe shot, he figured one more player down was one step closer to beating Janna.

As he silently crept into position to take his shot, Tom saw the other late arrival, player 29, approaching 30 from behind. Tom decided he would wait for 29 to deal with 30, then take out 29 himself, leaving him alone with... well, he didn't know for sure, but from the way things were going in his life lately, he guessed it would probably be Janna. However, to his surprise, 29 held her -again, Tom suspected "her"- fire, going right up behind 30 and tapping him on the shoulder. 30 turned, gun drawn, until looking down and seeing the 29 on the uniform. 30 nodded to 29, giving her some kind of hand signal. 29 gave a thumbs up in return, then took off to another part of the course.

"What the..." Tom wasn't exactly sure what he had just witnessed, but it didn't seem like it was on the level. At the very least, the two seemed to have some sort of non-aggression pact, if they weren't outright cooperating. Even if his main goal was to survive Janna, Tom wasn't particularly fond of the idea that a couple of cheaters might win today's match and prize. He didn't know how to report them, and wasn't sure if he'd have the opportunity in any case. For now, Tom decided to focus on the matter at hand. Namely, making sure he wouldn't get surprised by-

"Janna!" Tom turned around to find a paintball gun pointed directly at him, immediately spotting Janna's 21 on the uniform of its wielder.

"Drop it." Janna closed in slowly, gun trained directly on Tom as he slowly set his gun on the ground. "Well, look what I found..." Tom almost wished she'd just shot him and gotten it over with, but she seemed to enjoy toying with her prey, approaching with swaying hips. He couldn't see a smile behind the helmet-mask, but he was sure Janna had one. Probably an evil one. "Looks like we have ourselves little lost demon." Tom was a little disturbed by how much Janna seemed to be enjoying her role as predator. There was clearly an element of gloating in what she said, but under different circumstances, Tom might have almost called Janna's attitude... seductive. "Hmm... maybe I should take him home. I always wanted a pet. But first..." Janna's finger crept slowly toward the trigger of her gun. "... I need you to help me settle a bet."

"WAIT! Waitwaitwaitwaitwait." Tom waved his hands wildly put in front of him, desperately hoping he could remain unpainted. Though he did, in fact, have a reason for it beyond simply not wanting to lose.

"Oh, you're not talking your way out of this. Which as it turns out, you aren't very good at anyway, so..." The pad of Janna's finger now rested on the trigger, which she began to squeeze slowly.

Tom reached out and slapped the gun barrel out the way before Janna could take the shot. "Just shut up and listen! Those two players who got here late... I saw them not shoot at each other and give some kind of hand signals! They're working together!"

"Yeah, right." Janna sounded skeptical, like she thought Tom was making a last ditch attempt at survival. She quickly trained her gun on him again, obviously unconvinced. "Even if that's true, what do you care?"

"It IS true!" Tom growled in frustration. He knew Janna had no real reason to believe him, which was made even worse by the fact that he was actually telling the truth. "Look, cheaters really get my giant invisible goat, okay?"

"Hm. Can't blame you on that one." Janna shrugged slightly, relaxing her posture. She kept her gun pointed roughly in Tom's direction, but she seemed like she was at least willing to listen. "But with deathmatch rules, only one person can actually win, so I don't think it's TECHNICALLY cheating to work together..."

"Oh, come on!" Even if it wasn't strictly against the rules, Tom still felt like it was violating the spirit of the game. "Don't you have any principles?"

"Any what now?" Janna sounded genuinely confused at Tom's question.

Tom gave Janna a completely deadpan look. Though he quickly realized she couldn't see it beneath the paintball mask, he hoped it came through in his tone. "Let me put it another way... even if you shoot me now, would you really be able to enjoy it if you end up losing to them? Stuck in third place because two people ganged up on you?"

Janna drummed her fingers along the side of her gun, though she kept it pointed squarely at Tom as she mulled over her options. "Let's say I believe you. How exactly are we supposed to beat two people who came here together, probably with a plan?"

Tom smiled a mischievous smile from behind his mask. "... I actually have some thoughts on that."

 

Tom and Janna had planned their next move in haste, knowing they were both being hunted. After splitting off, Tom made his way through the course, now actively looking for trouble. He deliberately tried to leave himself a little exposed as he roamed the arena, just enough to catch the eye of his remaining opponents.

Tom stopped behind one of the large concrete walls, popping his head out the window and scanning the area. He immediately heard the sound of paintballs landing close by, and though he didn't have time to find exactly where they hit, he was sure they had struck his cover. Tom ducked behind the wall, smiling to himself as he returned fire, trading shots with his opponent and keeping them pinned. "That's right, buddy... you just stay right there."

After exchanging several rounds of fire, Tom slipped back behind cover once more and turned to check his back, only to find paintball gun pointed directly at him from some distance away. This time, it wasn't Janna. It crossed Tom's mind that, if he ever played paintball again, he would have to do a better job of watching his own back.

Things were officially no longer going according to plan, but depending on Janna, he thought they might still be able to make it work. Tom slowly raised his hands in surrender to player 30, hoping it would create enough of a delay, though his grip remained on his gun. 30 approached slowly, tilting his head, almost like he was confused by what he saw. Tom wondered why 30 didn't just take the shot. He was starting to get a little nervous that Janna had abandoned him, or at least, hadn't been able to carry out their plan.

As 30 began to squeeze the trigger, Tom heard several shots from across the course, followed by a shout from Janna echoing through the arena. "SUCK IT, SUCKER!" Based on her choice of words, Tom was sure the plan had worked, or at least worked well enough. Janna had made her way around and flanked 29 while Tom had kept her pinned. 30 was momentarily distracted by Janna's cry, and it was all the opportunity Tom needed. He whipped his gun back into position, firing a barrage of paintballs at 30. 30 tried to evade, but fell backwards onto the dirt, plastered with red paint and now out of the game.

Tom let out a victory cry, and Janna ran directly toward the sound. They met in the middle of the arena, not far from where Tom had finished 30. They whooped and hollered, exchanged a high five, pumped their fists, and generally made a scene to celebrate their victory. "WOO! HAHAHAHA! WE DID IT!"

29 wasn't far behind Janna, and she rushed over to 30, reaching out a hand. "Hey, you alright?" The young female voice sounded very familiar to Tom, but being slightly muffled by the face mask, he couldn't quite place it immediately.

30 grabbed 29's hand, rising to his feet and brushing himself off. "I'm fine. Just... sticky." 30 pulled off his helmet, revealing a face that, to their surprise, both Janna and Tom recognized immediately.

The two stood dumbfounded, but Janna got her head together first, pulling off her helmet and staring at the boy in surprise. "... Marco?"

29 removed her own headgear, revealing another familiar face underneath. Her long golden hair tumbled out of the helmet, sparkling and glowing as it fell, apparently having been held back by magic. "Janna!?"

"STAR!?" Tom's eyes went wide in surprise as he removed his own helmet, his own hair now a complete mess after so much time under the headgear.

The four teens stared at each other in total confusion, Tom at Janna's side, and Marco at Star's. All of them had a thousand questions, but none had any idea where to start. Without the slightest shift in her expression, Janna raised her gun to the side and fire directly at Tom's chest, splattering him with pink paint.

"Hey!" Tom jerked back, looking down at himself in shock. He thought he should've felt angry, but instead he just felt betrayed. After what they'd just pulled off together, Tom could hardly believe that Janna would be so willing to stab him in the back by shooting him in the front. "What the heck was that for!?"

"Game wasn't over."


End file.
